This invention relates generally to ultrasound systems and, more particularly, to methods and devices for exporting ultrasound data from ultrasound systems.
Ultrasound systems provide high quality images, Doppler sound, textual information and other types of data. However, and particularly with respect to the high quality images, these images are formatted such that access to view the images is limited to devices having a specific viewer for the ultrasound image format (e.g., DICOM workstation). Thus, individuals (e.g., doctors and patients) that desire or need to review the images, may not be easily able to view the images or other types of data. For example, the individual may not have direct access to an ultrasound system or DICOM viewer needed to view the images due to time or location constraints. The individual must then locate a system to view the images (e.g., a system able to access the archived data in DICOM or other proprietary format), such as an available ultrasound machine or a special dedicated workstation (e.g., DICOM workstation or PAC machine). Thus, the review process is often inconvenient due to timing limitations, constraints on usage of dedicated hardware/software, and limitations of functionality of the dedicated software and dedicated data format (e.g., size of archived data).
Additionally, ultrasound images may be given to patients after scanning. For example, a hospital, as a complimentary service, may provide to patients, still pictures or image loops of a baby of a pregnant patient. These images are typically provided on a paper printout or printed and scanned to be provided on a VHS tape. Thus, the patient is provided with images on limited formats having limited viewing options and limited opportunity to share the images with others.